4 SPORTS Thursday, June 9, 1983 Page 16 The Michigan Daily 'M' near CWS extinction 4 By PAUL HELGREN Special of the Daily OMAHA, Neb. - The hitters almost pulled one out that the fielders threw away as the Michigan baseball team lost, 6-5, to Alabama Tuesday night. The defeat put the Wolverines one loss away from elimination in the College World Series. Michigan faced Stanford, which also has one loss, last night. Three Wolverine errors and other fielding miscues gave Alabama four unearned runs and a 6-0 lead after three-and-a half innings. But Michigan fought back and made the score 6-5 going to the bottom of the ninth. Crim- son Tide reliever Tim Meacham retired the first two batters in the inning and got two strikes on Ken Hayward before the Wolverine first basemen ripped a single to left. Jeff Jacobson followed with a single that moved pinch runner Dan Disher to second and Michigan's. hopes were rekindled. MEACHAM'S FIRST two deliveries to Chuck Froning were balls and Alabama coach Barry Shollenberger immediately pulled him in favor of ace reliever Troy Brauchle. After serving up a ball, Brauchle followed with two strikes and then got Froning to ground out to shortstop to preserve the Crim- son Tide victory. Brauchle picked up his 12th save of the year while starter Rick Browne won his 11th game against just one defeat. Michigan starter Dave Kopf, who lasted only three-and-one-third innings, suffered his first defeat against nine wins. "Give Michigan a lot of credit for (coming back)," Shollenberger said af- ter the game. "They're a great team. They weren't here to get blown out. They didn't want to hear any of that. We're very fortunate to come out with a win. INDEED, WITHOUT the aid of a few Wolverine gifts, the Tide may have found itself trailing instead of leading in the late innings. Bret Elbin's first-inning, lead-off homer was no gift however, as it sailed over the 370-foot marker in right field to give Alabama a quick, 1-0, lead. The Crimson Tide scored once more in the inning when Dave Magadan, who went three-for-four, knocked in Ted McClendon. McClendon had singled wolverines s winning in fifth and advanced to second base with the help of a passed ball by Michigan cat- cher Rich Bair. MAGADAN'S THREE singles came in his first three at-bats of the game. Coupled with his five-for-five effort against Arizona State Saturday night, Magadan had eight straight hits, a College World Series record, held by former Michigan star Jim Paciorek. Magadan was finally retired in the sixth when reliever Scott Kamieniecki got him to fly to left. Although he was looking for number nine, Magadan was pleased with eight straight hits. "I was pretty satisfied with getting eight in a row," said the Alabama first baseman, who was drafted by the New York Mets in the second round of the amateur baseball draft Monday. "I didn't feel any pressure (to get nine). I tink there's more pressure when you're 0-8 than when you are 8-8." ALABAMA SCORED it's third run in the third before closing out it's scoring in the fourth with three unearned runs. Number nine hitter Craig Shipley drew a one-out walk from Kopf, prompting Michigan coach Bud Middaugh to bring in Kamieniecki. The freshman got the first batter he faced to hit what looked like a double- play ball to Barry Larkin, but the usually sure-handed shortstop let the ball get past him for an error, putting runners at the corners. It appeared Kamieniecki might get out of trouble when he got McClendon to strike out, but Magadan singled off of first baseman Hayward's glove to drive in Shipley. Skates followed with a single off of Jacobson's glove, scoring one run and moving Magadan to second. Alan Stallings made the score 6-0 with a single up the middle. BUT THE WOLVERINES battled back in their half of the fourth with three runs. Hayward led off the inning with a single and scored on a one-out double by freshman Casey Close. Close went to third on a single by Fred Erdmann and scored on a wild pitch. Erdmann scored on consecutive singles by Bair and Dale Sklar making the score 6-3. While Kamieniecki was cruising through the Alabama line-up, Michigan added another tally in the sixth when Larkin tripled over the center fielder's head, scoring Bair. THE SCORE NARROWED to 6-5 in the seventh when Jacobson singled home Chris Sabo, who had doulbed off the right fielder's glove. Michigan had one more chance to tie the game before the ninth when it got a runner to second with one out in the eighth. But Sklar whiffed and Larkin lined out to right-center to end the in- ning. Middaugh was not discouraged by the loss and praised his team's attempted comeback. "We have a lot of heart," said Mid- daugh," and we kept on battling and almost pulled it out. That's the type of ball club I've had all year long." Middaugh sent Rich Stoll (11-2) to the mound against Stanford last night hoping to avoid elimination. Stoll was the winning pitcher in Saturday's 6-5 win over Maine. If Michigan wins the game, it faces Texas tomorrow night. If not, the Wolverines make the long trip home to Ann Arbor. Michigan got a two-out baserunner in the fourth when Ferd Erdmann singled sharply to right. Erdmann got no far- ther than first, however, when designated hitter, Chuck Froning hit a soft liner to the first baseman. Stanford got a two-out double in the fourth by shortstop John Verducci but the next batter struck out to end the in- ning. In ast night's first game Arizona St., held on to eliminate Oklahoma State, 6- 5. Oklahoma State, considered by some to be the favorites to win the College World Series, rallied for four runs in the ninth but came up one run short. ARIZONA STATE (44-23) advances to play either Alabama or Texas tomorrow night, 4 4 4 4 AP Photo Alabama second baseman Fermin Lake tangles with the Wolverines' Dale Sklar following a force out in College World Series action Tuesday night. 4 4 (Continued from Page 1) right field wallto Mike Watters, scoring Bair and Larkin. CHRIS SABO was then given an in- tentional pass to load the bases. Ken Hayward followed with a slow grounder to short which resulted in a fielder's choice and Jeff Jacobson grounded to third to end the inning. Stanford didn't score in their half of the fifth and Michigan could manage only a single by Bair in the sixth.. Stanford opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning on a home run by Mike Aldrete. The four bagger came off the fourth pitch of the inning and sailed over the left-center field fence, 385 feet from home plate. STANFORD ADDED an unearned run in the second. Vince Sakowski reached first base on a throwing error by shortstop Larkin. Stoll then walked Mike Dotterer on four pitches. An at- tempted double steal by the Cardinals was thwarted when Bair threw out Sakowski. But John Verducci doubled off the left-center field wall to score Dotterer. Michigan got its first fun on Bair's fourth home run of the year. Sklar followed Bair's round-tripper with a walk but was eliminated when Larkin grounded into a double play. Watters followed with a single but was stranded there when Sabo's long fly to right- center was hauled in at the warning track. Stanford had a good chance to score in the third when Aldrete and Eric Har- dgrave hit consecutive two-out singles. But Stoll got the next batter to strike out. 4